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Friday, July 31, 2020 | 12:02 PM
Shane Dunlap | Tribune-Review
Hempfield football players huddle before their game against Greensburg-Salem on Aug. 23, 2019.
Kickoff for WPIAL football is delayed along with almost all other fall sports.
The WPIAL notified high school administrators Friday that football season won’t start until Sept. 10, the regular season will be reduced to seven games and the playoffs might look very different.
Cross country, soccer, field hockey and girls volleyball can start their schedules Sept. 14.
Golf and girls tennis begin sooner on Aug. 24.
WPIAL executive director Amy Scheuneman said Thursday the league was concerned for schools trying to balance a sports season while starting classes under covid-19 conditions.
Now, football season won’t start until the Thursday after Labor Day.
“We’re trying to allow schools the opportunity to get kids in their building or acclimated online or just get a practice schedule going during that opening of school,” Scheuneman said Thursday when the WPIAL board voted to change the start dates for fall sports.
Under the traditional start dates, golf would open competition Aug. 20, tennis Aug. 24, football Aug. 28, and the remaining fall sports Sept. 4. Instead, the PIAA offered districts a “hybrid” option, letting the WPIAL start one or multiple sports later.
To delay football season, scheduled matchups from Weeks Zero, 1 and 2 were eliminated. Those weeks contained no conference matchups, making them easy to cut.
However, the WPIAL also chose to end the regular season a week early, in case the PIAA moves the state playoffs earlier, as expected. To accomplish that, the WPIAL moved football games from Week 9 (Oct. 30) to Week 2 (Sept. 11). Teams will play Weeks 3-8 as originally scheduled.
Heat acclimitization for football may begin Aug. 10. The first scrimmage is Sept. 3 or 4, which replaces Week 1.
All fall sports are allowed to start practice Aug. 17.
The WPIAL also revealed two football playoff formats, one if there are state playoffs and another if there aren’t.
If there are state playoffs: The WPIAL will have a four-team bracket in Class 6A with the finals Nov. 6 or 7. Class 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A and A will have an eight-team bracket with finals Nov. 13 or 14.
If there are no state playoffs: The WPIAL will have only a two-round tournament and four qualifiers from each classification. The finals would be Nov. 6.
Class 6A would include the top four teams. Class 5A, 4A, 3A and A would take the three conference champions and one wild card. Class 2A would take only the four conference champions.
This story will be updated.
Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review Staff Writer. You can contact Chris by email at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter .
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